


Tricky Decisions

by orphan_account



Series: Percy Weasley Needs a Damn Hug [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Percy Weasley, Betrayal, Betrayals, By his dad, Fired Percy, Gen, He's fired, Loss of Trust, Minister for Magic Arthur Weasley, Nepotism, No Nepotism, Not Percy, Ooh it's getting good, POV Arthur Weasley, POV Percy Weasley, Panic Attacks, Sacked Percy Weasley, Some of it, also, corrupt ministry of magic, that goes both ways, that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 18:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20821655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Arthur was the new Minister for Magic. Could he trust his son?Oh, it's getting real.





	Tricky Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> Okay. This was unexpected. I don't remember writing this, I'm pretty sure I did it in my sleep or something crazy. Maybe I was being mind controlled? Blame it on Percy, I don't know. I might have another chapter where everything goes to shit for everyone. Who knows?

Arthur had a decision to make. It might have been one of the hardest he’s ever made, harder than not murdering Lucius Malfoy, harder than leaving the Ministry back in that terrible time when it was corrupted. 

When he had to make hard decisions, he liked to go to his family. That was what he was doing now. Sitting at the table, serious and waiting for the people he trusted most, he felt like a king. But he wasn’t a king, he was the minister for magic. The newly bestowed title made him grin.

Molly came in, bearing a large plate of muffins, followed by Fred and George, hovering like greedy vultures behind her. Ginny and Harry, holding hands and chatting to Ron and Hermione followed. Bill and Charlie came in last, Bill doubled over with laughter about some story he heard. 

The people he trusts most, their combined judgement would help him here, he knew. 

They were looking attentively at him, and clearing his throat, he began to speak. ‘As you know, I’m due to become Minister for Magic officially tomorrow. There’s something I need your help with. Obviously, you all are going to help me a lot anyway, but I’ve been worried over this and I need advice. My first thing is going to be getting rid of all the corrupt people in the Ministrry and trying to replenish the workforce.’ He was hesitant as he slowly fleshed out his next sentence. ‘I don’t know whether or not to fire Percy. I don’t know if he’s corrupt or not, and I’m on the fence. What do I do?’ He asked plaintively, obviously at a loss. 

Fred started. ‘Well, we think that Percy isn’t necessarily totally corrupted.’ 

George cut in. ‘But it seems to us he’s entirely too corruptible. He’s probably done awful things to keep his job.’

‘And is not to be trusted.’

Arthur frowned. He didn’t want his opinions to be shared. He looked up again at Ginny. ‘I think you should fire him. When he left, he showed us that he barely has a moral backbone. He made mum cry, and he obviously doesn’t care. He’s too easily swayed, he believed all that propaganda. Do you remember what he said about Harry? You can’t trust him, so fire him.’

Ron nodded. Arthur knew it was all Ron would do, but it was his indictment nonetheless. The war had certainly made his youngest son quieter, and that was a good thing, in his opinion.

Hermione was timid as she spoke up. He was a bit surprised to hear her speak, but he listened nonetheless. ‘I think Percy was blinded by ambition, and I can relate to that. But do you see me abandoning the people I love? No. He can’t be trusted in the position he’s in, or at the Ministry at all.’

‘Percy was always the most eager of our children, dear, and I always thought it was sweet that he wanted to work at the Ministry with you. But he isn’t humble at all! The things he said about money and all that? He should leave his Ministry job, and that would return him to us. If he isn’t high and mighty anymore, he’ll rethink his opinions.’ Molly said firmly. 

Charlie has not been around for long, so he didn’t speak, and Bill, the most thoughtful of his children and the most likely to argue for Percy did not speak up. That was telling in itself.

They had told him all he needed to know, and after asking for help on a meeting he was going to host in three weeks, he went up to his study, Percy’s old room.

He felt a tear slip down his face, then another, until he was crying. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to fire his son, but it was what had to be done. Arthur has always prided himself on his ability to do what’s right. So as soon as he arrived tomorrow, Percy would be given half an hour to get his things and soundly dismissed. 

He would not be able to bear two weeks in the office with him. He couldn’t give a notice, and he would allow himself this selfish action. Hopefully Percy would not have too hard a time finding a new job, especially with the way he was to be fired.

It was six o clock in the bloody morning, and Percy was being fired from his job. He sat numbly, pale in his father's new office. He was shaking.

‘Percy, I’m sorry, but we’re dismissing you. This was a tricky decision, but I've decided I can’t trust you. You have half an hour to get your things and vacate the premises.’ He handed him the paper he’d not seen for months, that fired employees. In the war, people weren't fired, they quit. 

Percy hadn't quit. He had gone into the Ministry every day and made sure that it was working, that no one was taking money or breaking into the records. He had scrambled the birth records of muggleborns, swirling them into a family from France or the Weasleys. You know, there were so many Weasleys. Let's ask Percy if it's really his cousin, the one shaking in fear over there. It's so much goddamn paperwork to track down where it might split off, where the record would be fake. It will take months. 

Percy had done his job well, he and protected the Ministry, he had protected it's employees. He'd run all the Departments, he'd controlled the employees with hushed whispers and earth shaking fear. He had done well. 

He was being fired.

‘Percy, you have to leave.’ Arthur reminded. Percy stood up abruptly, paper still clutched in his hand. It was only then that he started feeling any semblance of rage, diluted by shock, but still rage.

A tricky decision? A tricky decision? It was bloody tricky being fired without a notice, how was he to get a job? His credibility was ruined. Just because his father didn’t trust him doesn’t mean he couldn’t be trusted. There was no basis to his actions, especially since they hadn’t spoken for two years. 

He left the room, packed up his desk before anyone else had even arrived, and went to his flat. He banged around for a bit, opening cupboards and getting some toast. 

His job was his life: he had put everything into running the Ministry, and into helping as much as he could. His father, who didn’t even know anything about what had happened in the Ministry, was firing him. 

Before he truly started to dwell on the fact that he was not going to continue working at the place he’d dedicated years of his life to, Percy straightened in his seat. 

It was going to be fine. He could find a job with anyone he wanted to, of course he could. He had saved the Ministry, hadn't he? He could hear in the back of his mind, though, Fred and George telling him about his sense of overblown self importance. Maybe he wasn't vital. Perhaps he wasn't going to survive out there. His own family couldn't even keep him around, they didn't think he was fit for his job. Percy wasn't a part of the Ministry anymore. He didn't have anything to believe in.

Hermes hooted from his cage. 'Oh,' Percy said, his hands shaking as he opened up the cage. 'Come on out, Hermes.' 

He sat on the ground, back against the wall. In and out and in and out, and breathe, Percy, breathe. Panic attacks were for exams and inspections from Death Eaters, he reminded himself. They weren't for times like this. Percy would be fine.


End file.
